BLOW OUTS and BOGG DOWNS

It has been an eventful few days for our lovely little Claudia (Truck), we have run her through the paces and she finally gave up and said she needed a rest. After the Gorillas, we went back to Lake Bunyonyi for a night of R&R – although we didn’t get much time for that as we got in around 4:00. The lake is absolutely gorgeous. I took a quick walk around part of it with Aaron (another traveler on the truck). It would have been quite peaceful but for the throngs of children who decided to join us on our walk and talk incessantly and say nice things like “give me your watch”. They are all asking for money but also tend to just simply ask for a pen or pencil and notebook so that they can use it for school. They are quite poor but still seem to smile all of the time and wave enthusiastically at us as we pass by.

After Lake Bunyonyi we got an early start (5:30am for me as I was on cook assist duty) and headed to Queen Elizabeth II National Park. It was a long drive but when we arrived at our secluded campsite, we were rewarded with several hippos bathing themselves in the stream on the side of the campground and baboons playing in the trees and running around the campsite. It was a beautiful spot and had one of the most architecturally interesting loos that I have ever seen. It was a spiral shape and once around into the center of the spiral there was a flat piece of wood stuck to a stick. Lift up the stick and well, there was your long drop. Oddly enough it was one of the more pleasant bathrooms we have had on the trip.

We arranged for a safari in the late afternoon evening so see the tree climbing lions – Godfrey was to be our guide. Lovely idea until about 20 minutes in, we hit a massive stump on the side of the road and tore a huge hole in the side of our tire. We all piled out and baked in the sun while Lucy and Jase changed the tire. Our guide, being ever cautious (Hah!) wandered around with his rifle as if a lion was just going to wander on up. I really don’t think that the tree-climbing lion does exist…or really that Godfrey had any clue what he was looking for or doing. He spent the entire time chatting and looking around. Although, we did see thousands of Ugandan Kob, very beautiful but like pigeons of the park – EVERYWHERE! Also saw quite a few water buffalo, topi and thousands of birds. The park is apparently home to over 600 types of birds.

So to finish our day, Claudia (truck) decided she wanted to get a mud bath and politely stopped herself in the middle of a bog. This resulted in around 3 hours of us squishing about in mud in the dark, swatting at mosquitoes and trying as hard as we could to find sticks and shrubs without stepping on the acacia thorns that appeared to be in such abundance. We did ultimately get her out with a tow truck and then were happily on our way back to the campground for a 9:00pm arrival. Very long day but the group is good and we all came together as a team. Mostly, I think, we were happy to wash our feet before we went to bed.